Extracted from The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, FL)
Friday, August 28, 2009

Robert James Martin

MARTIN, ROBERT JAMES, born Aug. 24, 1942 in Mulberry, FL, was a very talented individual; but his main virtue was that he was true to himself. He did what he loved to do and he was undaunted by conventions. He had a singular purpose and it involved the creation of electronic circuits. He loved his wife, his sons, his grandchildren and all members of his family and he was devoted to them. But I must say that every waking moment his mind was busy designing circuits. Where ever he went he had a clipboard and he was constantly creating schematics.

He attended Fern Creek Elementary School, Howard Junior High and Edgewater High School. When he was in the 10th grade he was not very interested in the subjects offered at school. Somehow he got enrolled in vocational school and the teachers, two Signal Corps veterans, taught him about electronics. After a short period of time they told our Mom that they had taught him all they knew and he was now teaching them. From that time until the time of his death, electronics was his life. He had a “lab” in the garage of our parent's home and he worked on creating breadboards and other surface mounted devices. When he had a date, she usually sat on the front porch talking to our parents, while he worked on a new electronic creation. He continued with his inventions and currently holds 32 patents for integrated circuits that he created.

He graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in Electrical Engineering, he did graduate work at the University of Central Florida and was one of the first students to receive a PHD in Electrical Engineering. He could talk on any subject and was a wonderful brother, but he was a genius when it came to electronics and that was his gift and he made the best use of his talents pursuing that love. He was a very effective teacher. He was a professor at UCF for several years. He also taught Bible Study Classes. Anyone whoever was taught by him never seemed to forget what he taught and the details that he provided on the subject. He also taught technical classes to businesses and government agencies on the design of complex integrated circuits.

He loved his birthplace, Mulberry, FL and he asked me to go back down there and we visited all the places we lived. He loved Fort Meade, FL and he fondly recalled the visits we had with Uncle Durwood and Aunt Margaret and their children, Janet, Vicki, Ginger and Dana Kay. He was interested in his roots and his ancestors and we explored with our Uncle Howard the area where our Grandfather established a saw mill and we visited Tilghman, FL where the Martin family was raised. All of us lost a good friend in Dr. Bob as he was fondly called and we will miss him. I am now looking forward to that time when God calls us to that wonderful family reunion where we will once again be united in the Eternal Family of God. Until that time, I will relish the wonderful times that we shared as brothers.

He is survived by his wife Sara; sons Glen (Diane) and Eric and Granddaughters Alyssa and Olivia and a brother Ronald; nieces and nephews, cousins; Uncles Howard Martin and Durwood Durrance and Aunt Dorothy Keim.

Emerson might have been describing Robert, when he said: “Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect man, Commands all light, all influence, all fate; Nothing to him falls early or too late.”

Robert died on Aug. 26, 2009. A memorial service is planned for Aug. 29,2009 at 2 p.m. at the Carey Hand Colonial Funeral Home at 2811 East Curry Ford Road, Orlando, FL 32806.